Rob Scallon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rob Scallon
Scallon at VidCon in 2014
Born
Robert Andrew Scallon

(1990-08-26) August 26, 1990 (age 33)[1]
Champaign, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Musician
  • video producer
  • internet personality
Years active2007–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2020)​
Musical career
OriginArlington Heights, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • drums
  • bass
  • ukulele
  • banjo
  • vocals
Labels
YouTube information
Channel
Genres
Subscribers2.45 million[2]
Total views513.4 million[2]
100,000 subscribers2014
1,000,000 subscribers2017
Last updated: May 2, 2023

Robert Andrew Scallon (born August 26, 1990)[3] is an American YouTuber, musician, and multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago, Illinois.[4] He is best known for several viral videos featuring his music, including heavy metal songs played with traditionally non-metal instruments.[5][6][7]

Early life[edit]

Scallon was born on August 26, 1990, in Champaign, Illinois, and was raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois.[8] As a child, he and his friends would visit their local Guitar Center and play instruments, although would never buy any due to lack of money. He was gifted his first guitar, a nylon-string classical, from his friend's father. He used it to write his first solo songs, and it was featured on many of his early videos.[9]

As a teenager, Scallon played drums in a metal band called Gas Mask Catalogue.[9]

Career[edit]

Scallon performing in 2016

Scallon began uploading to YouTube in February 2007,[4] and began to develop a following in 2008.[7] His popularity launched as he began to cover metal songs with folk and country instruments.[4] Most notable are his renditions of songs on banjo, including "Raining Blood" by Slayer,[10] "Master of Puppets" by Metallica,[11] and "Psychosocial" by Slipknot, the latter featuring a cameo appearance by Corey Taylor.[12] His videos have featured collaborations with Andrew Huang, Boyinaband, Davie504, Doug Walker, Jared Dines, Leo Moracchioli, Mary Spender, and Sarah Longfield.

Scallon has released several solo albums. While most are self-released, his EP Anchor and LP The Scene is Dead are sold through DFTBA Records.[13] His releases have featured instrumentalists such as Jeff Loomis, Rabea Massaad, Ola Englund, and Pete Cottrell. He plays drums in the band Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers, and their debut album Incongruent peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart in 2014.[14] He is also part of a collaborative project with Andrew Huang called First of October, a novelty band that records an album within one recording session on October 1.[15]

Scallon released a signature series of guitars with Chapman Guitars in 2017.[16] Three more guitars were added to his line in 2020.[17] In 2022, Scallon ended his partnership with Chapman and launched a new line of guitars with Schecter.[18]

Scallon, in partnership with Sweetwater Sound, received a Guinness World Record for the largest guitar effect pedalboard in 2019. The rig included 319 individual pedals, 34 pedalboards, and over 500 feet (150 m) of cables.[19] On January 1, 2021, Scallon launched GuitarQuest, a paid online course to teach people how to play guitar.[20][21] Later that year, he released the song "MudHook" featuring Unearth drummer Nick Pierce.[22][23]

On June 10, 2023, Scallon announced on his YouTube channel that he has been working in partnership with Ritual Studios development studio to produce a pixel-art adventure video game called Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson. The main character, Rob, and game's universe are directly inspired by Scallon and his friends in the music industry. Gameplay will be focused on rhythm-based combat with RPG elements.[24][25]

Personal life[edit]

Scallon's younger brother, John, also played music as a teenager. He left his instruments behind for Rob when leaving for college.[9] Several instruments in Scallon's personal collection are custom made through collaborations with other content creators.[9][26]

Scallon began dating actress, comedian, and YouTuber Tamara Chambers in 2012.[27][28][29] They married in November 2020.[30][31][32] They have collaborated on various projects, such as a 2012 Good Mythical Morning episode introduction[33] and a 2014 cover of Pharrell's "Happy".[34]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums
  • Summer (2008)
  • The Ride Home (2009)
  • The Winter's Months (2011)
  • Rob Scallon (2012)
  • Aldine (2014)
  • The Scene Is Dead (2017)
Extended plays
  • A Purple Cello EP (2013)
  • Anchor (2014)
  • Sunday Uke Group (2018)
Singles
Collaborations
  • "Told Me" (2012) – Gunnarolla (feat. Rob Scallon)
  • "Six Inches" (2014) – Gunnarolla (feat. Ally Rhodes & Rob Scallon)
  • "Tines" (2017) – Andrew Huang & Rob Scallon
  • "Advice" (2018) – Cal Chuchesta (feat. Rob Scallon)
  • Nostalgia Critic's The Wall (2019) – Doug Walker
with Gas Mask Catalogue
  • Blind. Deaf. Mute. (2009)[37]
  • Promise Land (2010)[38]
with Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers
  • Incongruent (2014)
with First of October
  • Ten Hours (2018)
  • Gourmet Ravioli (2019)
  • Gotta Record Everything Good (2021)
  • CHAOS (2022)
  • Across The Road (2023)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "30 🙂". facebook.com.
  2. ^ a b "About Rob Scallon". YouTube.
  3. ^ Scallon, Rob. "8 STRING RAP and it may or may not be my birthday! (vloggin' 8/26/13)". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Galil, Leor (March 29, 2017). "Chicago's most popular young metal guitarist plays on YouTube, not onstage". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  5. ^ Cornell, Jeff (August 27, 2018). "Watch Rob Scallon and Sarah Longfeld Cover Slayer on Ukuleles". Loudwire. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  6. ^ Shackleford, Tom (May 26, 2019). "Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" Performed On Actual Bells". Live For Live Music. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Leight, Elias (October 3, 2014). "Rob Scallon Covers Slayer's 'Angel of Death,' Explains Making Money Off YouTube: Exclusive Premiere". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  8. ^ Scallon, Rob. "Seeing my signature guitar in my hometown Guitar Center". YouTube. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d Scallon, Rob. "My Instrument Collection". YouTube. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  10. ^ Hartmann, Graham (May 27, 2014). "Banjo Player Crushes Slayer's 'Raining Blood'". Loudwire. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  11. ^ Pasbani, Robert (May 2, 2016). "The METALLICA "Master of Puppets" Banjo Cover You've Been Waiting For". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  12. ^ Hill, John (August 28, 2017). "Rob Scallon Drops Banjo Cover of Slipknot's 'Psychosocial' With Corey Taylor Cameo". Loudwire. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  13. ^ "Rob Scallon". DFTBA. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  14. ^ "Hank Green And The Perfect Strangers". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  15. ^ Stolzer-Gary, Isaac (October 16, 2018). "Here's What An Album Written And Recorded In 10 Hours Sounds Like". GearGods. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  16. ^ "Chapman Artist Rob Scallon". Chapman Guitars. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  17. ^ Breathnach, Cillian (January 20, 2020). "NAMM 2020 video: Rob Chapman runs us through what's new for Chapman in 2020". Guitar.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  18. ^ Roche, Sam (May 24, 2022). "Rob Scallon launches new signature line with Schecter, marking end of partnership with Chapman Guitars". Guitar World. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  19. ^ Astley-Brown, Michael (August 30, 2019). "Rob Scallon and Sweetwater just broke the world record for the largest guitar effect pedalboard". Guitar World. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  20. ^ Owen, Matt (March 29, 2021). "Rob Scallon launches mission-based learning platform, GuitarQuest". Guitar World. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  21. ^ Benitez-Eves, Tina (March 23, 2021). "Rob Scallon Teams Up with Guitareo, Offering Personalized Guitar Course". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  22. ^ Neilstein, Vince (March 23, 2021). "Rob Scallon Unveils New Song and Video, "MudHook"". MetalSucks. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  23. ^ Kennelty, Greg (March 22, 2021). "Rob Scallon Drops New Eight-String Song "MudHook"". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  24. ^ We're releasing a game! (really... this is real), retrieved June 10, 2023
  25. ^ "Fretless - The Wrath of Riffson on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  26. ^ Bienstock, Richard (March 3, 2020). "The guitar world is freaking out over B-Benders again – and it's all Rob Scallon's fault". Guitar World. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  27. ^ "Yesterday was Tamara and my two year anniversary. So we went to Headquarters Beercade and vlogged about it". facebook.com.
  28. ^ "Chicago's most popular young metal guitarist plays on YouTube, not onstage". chicagoreader.com. March 29, 2017.
  29. ^ "Currently on a small road trip with the girlfriend, any song recommendations for us to YouTube?". facebook.com.
  30. ^ Scallon, Rob (November 7, 2020). "Married!". Facebook. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  31. ^ "Married!". twitter.com.
  32. ^ "Marriage". facebook.com.
  33. ^ "Mr T and the Awesomeness of VHS". YouTube. Good Mythical Morning. April 2, 2012. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  34. ^ Reed, Ryan (April 21, 2014). "Pharrell's 'Happy' Becomes 'Vine Symphony'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  35. ^ "Anchor (feat. Jessica Burdeaux) - Single". music.apple.com.
  36. ^ "MudHook (feat. Nick Pierce) - Single". music.apple.com.
  37. ^ "Blind. Deaf. Mute". music.apple.com.
  38. ^ "Promise Land - Single". music.apple.com.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rob_Scallon&oldid=1220403202"